It's easy to limit your search to scholarly journals (also called academic, or peer-reviewed) in most databases. For example, in Academic Search Complete, there's an option on the main search page under "Limit your results" to limit the search to scholarly (peer reviewed) journals:
Criteria |
Scholarly Journals |
Popular Magazines |
---|---|---|
Example |
|
|
Author |
Usually a scholar or researcher with expertise in the subject area; author's credentials and/or affiliation are given. |
Author's name may or may not be given; often a professional writer; may or may not have expertise in the subject area. |
Audience |
Other scholars, researchers, and students. |
General public; the interested non-specialist. |
Language |
Specialized terminology or jargon of the field; requires expertise in subject area (or a good specialized dictionary). |
Vocabulary in general usage; easily understandable to most readers. |
Graphics |
Graphs, charts, and tables; very few advertisements and photographs. |
Graphs, charts and tables; lots of glossy advertisements and photographs. |
Layout & Organization |
Structured; generally includes the article abstract, objectives, methodology, analysis, results (evidence), discussion, conclusion, and bibliography. |
Informal; may include non-standard formatting. May not present supporting evidence or a conclusion. |
Accountability |
Articles are evaluated by peer-reviewers or referees who are experts in the field; edited for content, format, and style. |
Articles are evaluated by editorial staff, not experts in the field; edited for format and style. |
References |
Always has a list of references or bibliography; sources of quotes and facts are cited and can be verified. |
Rarely has a list of references; usually does not give complete information about sources of information. |
Adapted from a LibGuide by Beth Rohloff at Tufts University's Tisch Library.